Volodymyr Zelenskiy Visits US to Raise Support for War Effort – Volodymyr Zelenskiy has made his first known international visit since Russia invaded Ukraine more than 300 days ago, visiting the United States on a high-stakes mission to secure support for his war effort well into next year. The Ukrainian president was filmed travelling with cars outside Przemyśl railway station in Poland. Later, he flew to Washington, DC, to meet with US President Joe Biden at the White House and to address politicians in Congress.
While in the air, Zelenskiy tweeted that he planned to strengthen the country’s “resilience and defence capabilities.” US lawmakers are due to vote on a year-end spending package that includes about $45bn (£37bn) in emergency assistance to Ukraine. The latest tranche of funding would be the biggest US infusion of assistance yet to Ukraine, above even Biden’s $37bn emergency request.
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The White House earlier announced that it intends to send advanced Patriot missile batteries to Ukraine, which it said would be vital to stop Russia’s “barbaric” rocket attacks on critical infrastructure, as well as $1bn in additional defence assistance. A White House statement announcing the visit said the trip would “underscore the United States’ steadfast commitment to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes, including through the provision of economic, humanitarian and military assistance.”
The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, portrayed the fight for Ukraine as a war for democracy in a letter inviting Zelenskiy to address a joint session of Congress. “In the face of Putin’s horrific atrocities, Ukrainian freedom fighters have inspired the world with an iron will and an unbreakable spirit. Your courageous, patriotic, indefatigable leadership has rallied not only your people, but the world, to join the frontlines of the fight for freedom,” she wrote.
After Moscow sent tanks and troops into Ukraine in late February, Zelenskiy sought to reassure Ukrainians that, despite threats to his life and family, he would remain in the country as a show of strength and determination. With Ukraine’s military already mainly pushing back Russian forces, the president’s international trip demonstrates that he is confident enough in the security situation to leave.
Ukraine’s largest single military donor is also at a crossroads. Democrats are expected to lose their majority in the US House of Representatives next month, so Zelenskiy and his White House supporters are eager to demonstrate bipartisan support. Some Republicans have recently questioned the cost of continuing to support the war. Kyiv’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said the visit was “extremely significant.”
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He added: “This finally puts an end to the attempts by the Russian side to prove an allegedly growing cooling in our bilateral relations. This, of course, is not even close. The United States unequivocally supports Ukraine.” In a call with reporters, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned that continued western arms supplies to Ukraine would lead to a “deepening” of the conflict. “The supply of weapons continues and the range of supplied weapons is expanding. All of this, of course, leads to an aggravation of the conflict,” he said.
